WARRIOR - noun - 1. a person who is engaged or experienced in warfare; soldier. 2. a person who shows or has shown great vigor, courage, or aggressiveness.

It is the last day of 2018 and I can’t think of a better way to end the year than to take a look back at Ramblin’ Rose photography’s 2018 WARRIOR photo shoot and celebrate these beautiful, brave, bad ass women one more time!

For those of you who do not know, the WARRIOR photo shoot features women who are currently fighting cancer or are in remission. These women are treated to a day of pampering that includes the full glam treatment by professional make up artists and hair stylists and then they each get their own mini photo shoot. It is a day for these women to come together and celebrate life and be reminded of just how beautiful they truly are.

When I started doing this photo shoot back in 2016, I truly had NO idea how much it would inspire, empower, and change me! These women have experienced one of the most terrifying things in life and have shown so much courage, vulnerability, and strength along the way. They are using their battle with cancer as an opportunity to grow, empower, educate, and live life bigger than ever before.

The day started with giving our WARRIORS the super model treatment provided by the most kick ass glam squad around!

And then I got to put each of these gorgeous women in front of my camera! I guess I’m biased but that is always my favorite part! Seriously, look how beautiful they are!!!

And now, drum roll please, I want to introduce each of the 2018 WARRIORS starting with this hottie right here!

Stephanie Simpson ~ breast cancer Warrior

Erin schrier ~ al amyloidosis warrior

velnor campbell little ~ breast cancer warrior

patricia Joy-Scales ~ breast cancer warrior

carol collins-carriveau ~ breast cancer warrior

madelyn woodard ~ brain cancer warrior

maria plunk robinson ~ anal cancer warrior

chio v rex ~ breast cancer warrior

renee yarbrough - cervical & uterine cancer warrior

Carla burke ~ breast & ovarian cancer warrior

toni montgomery ~ multiple myeloma warrior

shawna-Kay Christy ~ breast cancer warrior

Ann Boyd ~ breast & colon cancer warrior

hayley prentiss varner ~ breast cancer warrior

let them eat cake!

And good grief, what a beautiful cake it was! We are so grateful to CRAVE bake shop in Arlington, TN for providing this beauty! They also provided yummy food for all the WARRIORS.

Thank you CRAVE!

It takes a village!

I could NEVER pull this off on my own and my village is the best! Seriously, I had the most incredible group of women that volunteered their time & talents to make sure the WARRIORS had the best day ever!

THANK YOU VILLAGE!

With the images from this photo shoot, we created a 2019 WARRIOR calendar and all the proceeds from the sell of the calendar were donated to THE Pink Wig project. The calendar completely sold out!!!

I want to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who purchased one of our calendars. Because of you, we were able to raise $3,150 for Pink Wig project.

WARRIOR: noun, often attributive war·rior \ˈwȯr-yər,ˈwȯr-ē-ər,ˈwär-ē-alsoˈwär-yər\ a person engaged or experienced in warfare; a person engaged in some struggle or conflict.

And when you are diagnosed with cancer, it is a war! Cancer is trying to take the most precious thing from you....your LIFE! And you are fighting for YOUR life! And in the midst of this battle, you are experiencing terrible side effects from one of your most powerful weapons....chemo. You are nauseous, your hair might be falling out, you struggle to get out of bed, you have chemo brain.....but still you fight like hell! You are having your breasts removed, you are having surgery to remove your uterus, you are having radiation treatments, you are having surgery to remove a brain tumor.....but still you fight like hell! And as you are going through all of this you still find the strength to be a mom, a friend, a sister, a wife! So yeah, when you are battling cancer you are a freakin' WARRIOR!

We did our very first WARRIOR photo shoot last year because we really wanted to celebrate women in the Memphis community that were either currently battling cancer or were cancer survivors. We also wanted to use this experience as a way to remind them that they are still beautiful and vibrant women! You can learn more about our 2016 WARRIORS and see the images for that photo shoot by clicking on the link below.

And 20 minutes into the photo shoot last year, I knew that without a doubt we would be doing it again this year and as many years after this as we can. Which brings me to our 2017 WARRIORS.....and what a kick ass group of beautiful & diverse cancer slaying WARRIORS they are!!! And once again, I was inspired and moved to tears by the amount of courage and straight up grit that these ladies have! And they are so hilarious and have learned not to take themselves too seriously which is why they didn't protest too much when I asked them to dance and shake their booty in front of my camera. What can I say?! I love to dance and so I assume that everyone else does to so I ask them to. It rarely ever backfires on me:)

I also want to say that it is pretty special to see a group of women from all walks of life come together and have an instant connection and bond. They were laughing, sharing stories, and supporting each other in a very real way. No one will deny that CANCER SUCKS but I've seen good come from it. These women are living proof of that!

Ok, ok! I know you are ready to see these gorgeous women so I'll get on with it. The day started with a whole lot of pampering for our WARRIORS from a group of very talented make up artists and hair stylists and then each of the WARRIORS got her very own photo shoot! It was like and episode of "America's next Top Model" but way better!

And now I present to you......drumroll please............The 2017 WARRIORS!!!

You see, I told you they were BEAUTIFUL! Well, super gorgeous is more like it!

This year we wanted to find a way to use the images from the WARRIOR photo shoots to help & inspire even more women so we decided to put together a 2018 calendar using the images from the 2016 & 2017 photo shoots. A HUGE thank you to Lesley Gilmer, my wing woman here at Ramblin' Rose, who volunteered her time and talent to design our first official WARRIOR calendar!!! We are selling these calendars for $20 and all of the proceeds will be donated to a local Memphis charity called The Pink Wig project which was actually founded by Teri Trotter who was one of our 2016 WARRIORS.We want one of these calendars to be in the hands of everybody out there so click on the link below and grab yours today! And then also grab a few to give as gifts to your friends!

Thank you to Cathy at Parker Prints hooking us up with the coolest and softest WARRIOR t-shirts!

Thank you to Mary Claireat Falling into Place on Broad Ave. and Rose Conway of Nautilus pottery for sharing their artistry with our WARRIORS this year! Mary Claire's handmade candles are always divine and when Rose showed me this sweet little piece of pottery that she had created especially for the WARRIORS to hold their rings, earrings, and such......I was blown away! So beautiful!!!

Thank you to Shelby Hartman with Twenty Two Magnolias Productions for creating the beautiful and emotional video below that gives you a real time look at the 2017 WARRIOR photo shoot. Seriously, it's so beautiful that I cried the first few times I watched it! We are so lucky to have it and will cherish it always!!!

[embed]https://vimeo.com/236951879[/embed]

And even though it really goes without saying, THANK YOU to all of our amazing WARRIOR women! You are the reason we are doing this and will continue on this journey with new WARRIORS every year. Hearing your stories and getting to know you has truly made my life richer! NEVER STOP FIGHTING!!!

xoxoxoxoxoxo, Kim

Kim Miller, owner of Ramblin' Rose Photography, is a Memphis portrait photographer specializing in Memphis boudoir photography, Memphis Kick Ass headshots, Memphis fitness photography, Memphis family photography, and Memphis newborn photography. Simply put, she LOVES photographing people! Ramblin' Rose Photography is also available for travel to just about anywhere in this great big world!